School of Two Thousand Smiles–Chapter Eight

DANNY

Cheryl O’Connell, my foster mother that I couldn’t think of as my mom, answered the landline phone and said, “Danny, this call is for you. It is from your tator, Sam, at school. You can take it to your room. I gave him your new number and told him it would take a minute for you to go upstairs.”

Wow, my first call on my own visual phone, and it was so nervous about what Sam had to say, I stumbled up the stairs and fumbled with the switches,  and worried that Sam would hang up on me. Finally, I found the right buttons to push and managed to say, “Hi Sam, what’s happening?” First, he wanted to know if our conversation was very private, and I looked over at the closed bedroom door to make sure I had closed my door. He wanted to know my dad’s name, and I told him it was Robert E. Lee. He chuckled and said, “I mean his real name.” I was my turn to chuckle. “It’s really his name. He was a junior till he killed his dad, and then stopped being a Jr. Anyway, please tell me what you've found out” His voice sounded kinda a bit lower and nervous, and I wondered if I sounded shaky too. He told me about how worried he was about my dad and that he was afraid he was a very dangerous madman – a guy who really fit my new name for him, Ratso. He had told me about his FBI friend and about her plan. I am flabbergasted about all the people worrying about me and my family.  I didn’t give a damn about our privacy, just about how worried Sam was about Ratso shooting up the school and all that. I was sure that Sam and all the other police people think I’m stupid for not thinking of that. I told Sam that, of course, I was open to being on the call when it was all set up.  This is the first time I’ve used a visual phone set up, and I blurted out, “I'm kinda nervous about it cause I ain't ever done this before." I smiled to myself as Sam sounded nervous himself as he said, "You'll do fine." before he hung up.

Only a few minutes later, Sam called back, and he was on what they called a ‘split-screen’; Clair Danley was on one half, and he was on the other half. Clair said, “Hi Danny, how do you like the school there?” I said, “I really like it, but it sure is different. Thanks for joining us on this call. I guess Sam told you how concerned he is?” She assured me that she shared his concern.

Sam said, “You have my cell number in case we get cut off, right?” I nodded, and he gave me instructions on how to handle a Zoom connection with more than one person. Then Clair Danley joined us, and I said hi to her again. Sam said, “We have two wonderful FBI agents helping us, and first we need to find a way to get your mom and sisters out of that house. Danny, tell us about what your Ratso would be doing as he runs around his family and his town down there in Mississippi?”

I wasn't sure what he meant but I said, "As far as family is concerned , his only relative is my dad’s uncle, who is the old sheriff, and I think he only talks to him around election time, and Ratso tells him what he wants to say, and  that's the only time he says anything at all. I don’t know anyone else. he'd call family and mom doesn’t know anyone around there. Ratso married her somewhere around Biloxi, but I don’t know if she has any relatives there either.  "Calling my dad Ratso sounds funny but I really hate calling him 'dad'. Anyway. he says that when she was a teenager she hung around other girls down around the bars and dance places in Biloxi." 

I guess Clair wanted to get a better idea about what the town in Mississippi looked like when they tried to get mom and my sisters away from there. so she said, “If our two agents came to Flowers, that is the name of the town, right?” I nodded, and she continued, “And asked around, what do you think they would learn?”

“If they said anything about dad, er Ratso, or me or my family, I think Ratso would take them to the little sheriff’s station and might even put them in one of the two jail cells until they told him where I was or what their business was with his family. They would be very suspicious characters. Remember, there are only about a thousand people in the entire county. I heard that San Diego County has over four million people. That’s more than the whole friggin state of Mississippi. So I don’t know what to tell you. Oh, and thank you guys for working to help me.”

Sam  wanted to know more about how I made it to Calfornia, so he asked, “Danny you talked about the truck driver you rode with. Did you get to know him well?”

“Yeah, we talked a lot. I told him about my dad being a mean bastard and that he had hurt my mom really badly many times.  Since he had never been to Flowers and probably wouldn’t ever get to see me or anybody from there, I told him a lot about my family."

Sam wanted to hear more and made a fan motion at me to continue, so I said more about Ratso and my family . "When I told Bubba, that's his name, about how he treated me and our mom, he got furious at my dad. He told me a lot about his family and that his wife had died of cancer several years ago, and that he had three grown-up children and four grandchildren – one about my age. I have to admit that I didn’t tell him about my sisters because I was afraid he’d kick me outta his truck for leaving them in a house with a dad that was mean as a snake. It’s funny that both he and you called dad a snake, ain’t it?”

“Yes, it is. Oh, Danny, what are the names of your mom and sisters? And if we could find a way to get into the house, what would be the best way to get your mom to leave with two total strangers?”

First, I gave Sam my mom’s name, which is Marge, and my sisters, Jacqui, who’s five, and Susan, who’s eight. “Maybe tell her that I sent you and give her the girls’ names and ages, and they would be safe with whoever came to get them.”

Sam wanted to get back to the truck driver, and I told him his name, which was Bubba Wilson, or Wilcox, or some kind of two-syllable W last name. Mostly, I remember Bubba. I told him that Bubba was proud that he owned his own truck and didn’t have to work for any damn trucking company. And he didn’t have any lettering on the sides of his rig. I told Sam that Bubba seemed to enjoy discussing everything with everyone.

“Danny, if we found him on the internet and talked to him, do you think he’d remember you? “ Clair asked. I wondered why she asked, but I didn’t ask her why. I told both her and Sam that I’d talk with the FBI agents or anyone they thought could help Mom and the girls. Clair and Sam said that I was helpful, and they’d keep me posted. I wasn’t sure what that meant, but Sam said he’d see me tomorrow sometime during the school day. I felt relieved that there were all these very kind people helping me help mom and my sisters. I told him the only thing I could think of about getting Ratso outta the way and getting mom and the girls outta that house was on a Friday night during a high school football game or on Saturday night when Ratso was out whor’n around. I wasn’t sure what whor’n meant except he was drinkin' a lot and being with lotsa women. Sam said that was good information.

School of Two Thousand Smiles–Chapter Seven

SAM

I was very worried about Danny and his demonic dad. We needed help, and I thought of a friend from graduate school who was now with the FBI. I called her. “Is this the infamous Helen of Troy?” She and I were graduate students together in a doctoral program in Evolution of Consciousness and have been friends for fifteen years. We had exchanged rather lengthy nicknames about that many years ago.

“Yes, and this must be the Sage by the Sea Sam? And you are calling me right at the end of dinner.’      

“Oh shit. It’s only five here on the left coast. Sorry about that. Your world is three hours older than mine. I’ll call back if that’s better. I do have a rather sad and dangerous case I need to talk to you about.” 

“No problem. Prince Phillip is just going out the door to a meeting. Let me get more comfortable, and you tell me about your case.”

I told her about Danny and said, “I worry that his dad might shoot up our school, and I’ll zoom to you part of his story.” When I finished showing the film and Danny told me his story, with his permission to share it with the FBI, I could hear her heavy breathing and see her tears. I turned the picture off when we heard Danny deciding to call his dad, Ratso. “So, Helen, you see the reason for my call. Obviously, his dad is a very disturbed man - a sociopath who is dangerous and very intelligent. And I’m afraid that Danny is not only in danger, but so is everyone around him, including me and everyone here at school, and the family he’s staying with. Danny is only twelve and very smart, but he does not realize how dangerous his dad really is. He said that he saw him kill his own father, but never took a day off from his work as the one and only Deputy Sheriff. He, the Deputy, has it set up there in the little town in the rural county in Mississippi, so everyone is afraid of him. So…”

“I agree, he does sound like a very sick man and a very dangerous one.” Helen was a clinical psychologist as well as having a doctorate in consciousness. “What is the situation of the Sheriff of the county?”

“Danny says that the guy is in his late seventies or eighties and shows up only around election time and then pretty much lets his, and I quote, ‘very efficient and intelligent deputy’, handle things. Danny says, for example, that Ratso – that’s Danny’s new name for dad, after I said he was misusing the word asshole, because assholes are useful, and that I  hated useless rattlesnakes, and they would make a better name. He laughed a little and said, ‘Then I’ll call him Ratso.’ The boy is clever.”

“How long has Danny been in the San Diego area? And how did he get to California?” 

25

“That is quite a story. He hitchhiked. He found an old fellow at a truck stop and talked him into letting him ride along with him in his eighteen-wheeler – wherever he was going. Danny is tall for his age – five feet, one or two - and at age twelve, he could pass for sixteen. He’s been here about four weeks, I think. I’ve told the county social worker, a very bright and caring young woman named Clair Danley. She found a good temporary foster home for him. She shares my worry. I don’t want to take him out of Two Thousand Smiles because he needs the feeling of safety and warmth we can provide at the same time. I don’t want to endanger the students and staff. I haven’t told Danny how concerned I am. He’s very fearful for his mom and sisters, and I don’t want to add to his worries.” 

“So we need to take action now. I’ll call the FBI office there in San Diego and ask them to help us. I’ll call you back as soon as I hang up. I’ll make sure they understand the danger and urgency. Have you called the police there yet?”

“Yes, and they will send out two extra plainclothes officers in the morning. There is always one plain-clothed police officer every school day, but only a few of the staff know who they are. This will be the first time in years they will possibly be needed.” Helen said she’d get back to me about the FBI in San Diego. My contact at the SD County Sheriff’s Office is Lance Keating.”

After I finished the call to Helen, I thought I’d get home in time to see Michelle breastfeed our baby girl, Sasha. We had named our first offspring, four-year-old Barack. We named both after our favorite historical presidential family, and we flipped a coin to see if our girl would be Malia or Sasha. Michelle worked from home as an editor for one of our local colleges’ magazines. So, our ‘babies’ are well cared for. In her soft voice, she whispered, “The dinner is ready. Would you please put it all on the table?” I told Michelle a bit about Danny’s plight while we ate. I was reminded that Barack was growing out of babyhood when he asked, “What’s an asshole, Daddy?” Uh, oh.

Helen called just as I had finished putting the dishes in the dishwasher. “Sam, I’ve got some good news. I asked my boss here if I could join the team to help you, Danny, and his family, and she agreed. You remember that in the doctoral program, I worked hard to tone down my southern accent?” I nodded, and she continued, “Well, I’m going to resurrect it. And we’re in luck again because one of our classmates, Marty Burnes, is stationed in the Biloxi, Mississippi, FBI field office, and he’s willing to help us.” I liked that she was so excited and so proactive. I remembered how quick and decisive she had been in our doctoral program. I thought there for a minute that she was about to jump through the screen and jump up and down in front of me. 

“Sam, you still with me?” I guess I wasn’t sounding as excited as she thought I should, so I shouted a loud Yes. She went on, “Tell me what you think. Tonight, we’ll have a Zoom meeting with you, me, Clair the social worker, Danny, and Marty. Before we meet, you and Clair talk with Danny about his family and the about the old sheriff.

Meanwhile, I’ll search online for any additional details that might be helpful. Then, I was thinking that Marty and I play like a couple who are trying to find out something about a family member of one of the people there – his dad, the old sheriff, or someone. And while we’re doing that, we’ll sneak his mom and sisters out of that dinky little town or county or whatever. Remember, Marty is from Mississippi and requested to be assigned there.

"So, what do you think?"

“I think you’re a genius. I’ll give Danny and Clara a call as soon as we hang up.”